The Atlanta Falcons ended their 2009 preseason with a 2-2 record, following their 20-3 loss against the Baltimore Ravens at the Georgia Dome on Thursday night.

As was to be expected, many of the Falcons starting team players only played briefly in the game before the second and third team replacements came in.

Matt Ryan, quarterback for the Falcons, played the first series of the game and went 1 for 1 and 13 yards. Michael Turner, running back, had two rushes for 12 yards.

John Parker Wilson, the free agent rookie quarterback, who before the game seemed to be in a battle with D.J. Shockley for the third string quarterback position, had a solid performance and finished 13 for 19 for a total of 80 yards and a 76.6% passer rating. At first Wilson seemed a bit shaky but was able to settle in in the third quarter. Wilson admitted he had been nervous early in the game but was able to focus.

Wilson said he thought he realized that he was kind of hyped up.

Keith Zinger, tight end, was a favorite target of Wilson’s. Zinger is another player who is fighting to keep a spot on the Falcons roster.

Zinger had two catches for 19 yards along with an impressive tackle while on special teams during the fourth quarter.

Mike Smith, Atlanta’s head coach, said he was happy with how the players played, many of whom are battling for jobs. He said that every single snap taken by each player would be taken into consideration during final evaluations, not just from Thursday’s play when a lot of the fringe players were out on the field for extended minutes.

Smith said after the game they would evaluate the entire body of work that they had done from mini camp, the OTAs and all of the team’s four preseason games when the roster was put together.

Smith said all along that the game on Thursday was for evaluating the players and not about the final score. He and his coaching staff were looking to see how players handled themselves in certain specific situations.

Smith said that during these games you call things offensively and defensively that placed players in specific types of situations in order to evaluate them.

The Falcons defense allowed the Ravens 276 yards, 204 passing and 72 rushing. Smith felt the pass defense, which last week had been a sour point, had improved but that it had a way to go. He was particularly pleased with the defense against the run.

Smith said he saw some good things. He added that he thought they had played the run extremely well for the most part. We showed improved with our efficiency on third down, even though it isn’t where we want it to be. But we showed improvement from last week and we pressured their quarterback.

The Falcons had four sacks for the night, one each from three different defensive ends: Maurice Lucas, Jamaal Anderson and Kroy Biermann along with one from Peira Jerry, defensive tackle.

Beirmann and Jerry in particular were standouts. Jerry, the first round draft pick for the Falcons in ’09, had four tackles, finishing second for the team. He also had a quarterback hurry and a tackle for a loss.

Smith said that Peira has continued to get better and better. He has improved his play from game to game. We could expect this would happen the more comfortable he gets with our scheme.

Jerry said that being more comfortable with the scheme had slowed the game down for him. He added that he wasn’t thinking as much or worrying over making mistakes. It is all coming to me.

The play where Jerry sacked John Beck, Ravens’ quarterback, he credited the whole defensive line. He felt the sack helped to teach him lessons about how he needs to man his NFL position.

Jerry said he knows he can get to the quarterback. It was just a matter of staying in my lane. The defensive line men are there to push the quarterback from the pocket. All I have to do is win my one on ones.

Biermann had six tackles, leading the team, along with one sack. He also had one quarterback hurry and two tackles for loss. Smith stated that they needed Biermann to help out with Atlanta’s pass rush. He added that the pass rush was an integral part of any success they would experience for the season.

One thing very noticeable about the way Biermann has played during the preseason has been the sense of urgency and his ability to play at one speed. Biermann said he couldn’t really explain it other than that is how he has always played.

The sophomore defensive end said he liked to get out and go after people.

The next step for the Falcons and Smith are the looming September 5 roster cuts. The Falcons at that time will trim their roster down from 73 to a final roster of 53. Smith said given all the extra time that he has spent with a lot of the players compared to last year which was his rookie year, will make these final decisions tough.

Smith said he had spent an entire off season, regular season and then another off season with the players. We are more familiar with the guys which makes the decisions more stressful.

The Falcons will begin their preparations for their 2009 opening game, which will take place next Sunday at home versus the Miami Dolphins. Many problems have been addressed during the preseason, in particular the rush defensive. However there are other problems that still remain, in particular third down passing defense. While preseason games might be free, that has all changed now. From now on it all counts.

Smith said there was a long way to go in terms of the team preparing for Miami. He added that he thought probably all 32 teams were thinking the same thing because the games now were for real.

Game Notes

D.J. Shockley, quarterback, finished the game 2 for 6 with 15 yards. Jason Snelling, running back, had 8 rushes for 21 yards. Thomas Brown had 39 yards on 11 rushes, leading the team. Troy Bergeron had 3 catches for 23 yards. Chris Redman, quaterback, and Tye Hill, the Falcons newly acquired cornerback, didn’t play in the game. William Moore, safety, Jerious Norwood, running back, John Abraham, defensive end, and Todd McClure, center, were all inactive.

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